Damsel In Distress
by TheShipWeirdo
Summary: Two people. Running from each other, yet running to each other. At first glance, he seems cold to her, while she seems weak to him. But, eventually, as time goes by, they discover more about each other. He was no demon, and she was no damsel in distress. AU (Natsu x Lucy)
1. prologue

**Disclaimer:** Fairy Tail is not owned by me.

* * *

_Lucy Heartfilia._

The picture of the blonde lay in her hand, as she tilted her head to examine it more carefully. The young lady had big, brown eyes, shoulder-length soft blonde hair, slight blush on her rosy cheeks, and a captivating smile.

_The smile, _Lisanna Strauss thought to herself, _is to die for. Yet... it seems fake._

"What do you think?" the sweet voice, that held a certain eagerness to it, got her to look up. Lisanna stared at her elder sister, Mirajane, sitting alongside her brother, Elfman, as they awaited her response. Once again, she glanced at the picture.

"She's cute," the girl said as her siblings gave a sigh of relief. "How old is she?"

"Nineteen," Elfman quickly answered. "Just perfect, don't you think?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," Lisanna shrugged. "The decision's up to Natsu, you know; it's _his_ marriage we are talking about."

"But, if your thought mattered, like it does," Mirajane suggested, "what _would _you say?"

The young girl took some time on her answer. Did it really matter about what she thought? She was just nineteen herself. How could _she, _out of all the people in the world, have a big role in arranging a marriage?

"I... I don't know," Lisanna lamely said. "I mean... I _guess _she does look like... Natsu's type, you know."

Mirajane exhaled, and a smile formed on Elfman's face. However, before her siblings got too excited, Lisanna quickly added, "It's still Natsu's decision, though!"

"Honey, you know the state he is in," Mirajane quietly said. "This might not be the best time to ask for his advice."

"Well then, what do we do? Just arrange his marriage without even asking him?" Lisanna raised an eyebrow, and Mirajane knew she had lost this battle just as quickly as it began.

"Fine. But, if anyone's going to ask him, it's going to be you. You're his best friend; he'll listen," Mirajane advice, and with a smile Lisanna got up.

"But, Lisanna, just be careful," Elfman warned. "Natsu's not in the best state right now, so you might not like what you hear from him."

She paused on her way, then turned to flash her brother a smile. "Don't worry; I'll be fine." _And so will he._

xxx

The blonde gazed at her reflection on the mirror. She looked over the long, maroon gown she wore. It was full sleeved and went all the way till her toes. Till her waist, the torso was tight, but the bottom and edges of her sleeves were puffed. She swore there were a couple rubies attached along with the laces.

"Pretty dress," Lucy commented.

"You're doing it justice," Levy McGarden, her best friend from childhood, complimented while sitting on her large bed. Lucy turned, not fully understand _why_ she was wearing it in the first place.

"Get to the point, Levy," she ordered. "What's this all about?"

Levy was stunned for a moment, then sighed, as if accepting defeat, "It's about... that marriage proposal."

At her best friend's words, Lucy Heartfilia groaned. "Seriously, Levy? Are we still doing this?"

"Yes," the short blue haired girl firmly spoke, and Lucy slightly shivered. "This proposal was requested by your late parents, and we _will _go forward with it."

"But, Levy..." she whined.

"No buts!" Levy raised her voice, and suddenly, also shockingly, Lucy didn't feel like protesting. Or, more like, she was afraid to. "I'm serious."

Her happy-go-lucky and sweet best friend's form suddenly changed into lethal and dangerous. An aura came out of her which most definitely said that Levy was serious beyond belief. Lucy, however, never saw Levy this serious, which is why the suddenly change of behavior made her feel like this wasn't Levy at all; it couldn't be. Surely some demon had possessed her, or she fell on her head causing this. Because, this most certainly did _not _feel like the Levy _she _knew.

"Levy..." But Lucy couldn't utter any more words of surprise, as the young adult slowly walked away and left the room. As she door closed, Lucy felt alone once again, just like she had been feeling lately.

It was different this time around, though; she wouldn't be able to count on her best friend anymore.

xxx

She pushed a strand of her short white hair behind her ear. Then, slowly, and nervously, Lisanna knocked on the hard wood. She was standing in front of the door of Natsu Dragneel, her childhood friend, yet she had never felt this scared before. _It's just Natsu, _she tried to assure herself, _Natsu's a very understanding guy. _However, even though everyone told her what she did was right, Lisanna had a feeling Natsu didn't think the same.

There was no response for a while, and she knocked again. A few seconds passed. Once again, no response. But she wouldn't barge in his room and invade his privacy, especially not now. So she knocked for the third time, and, to her surprise, a deep voice spoke from inside.

"Come in," it said, and she knew whose voice it was. Taking a deep breath, she turned the door knob and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

Natsu stood in front of his mirror and, from the corner of his eyes, he saw her enter. Immediately he felt hatred and rage take over himself, but he tried to control it, even if he was failing.

"Oh, so it's _you,_" the words rolled out of his tongue, and she flinched. His voice was so emotionless; so _cold_, and for a second she whether he hated her or not. She shook it off, reminding herself that this was _not _what she came for. She would settle this someday, but today was not that day.

"Yup, it's me!" she cheerfully exclaimed, smiling as bright as she could. It was fake, he could see that, but Natsu was not in the mood to acknowledge her for her efforts. Not now; _definitely _not now."

"What do you want?" he said in pure disgust, and it was then that Lisanna understood. _If this is the game he chooses, I'll play along as well,_ she decided.

"I need to talk you," she nonchalantly answered, walking over and finding her place in a couch in his room.

"I didn't ask you to sit."

"You didn't have to."

"What if I don't want to sit?"

She looked at him right through the mirror, as he was facing his back to him, with a glare, "well then, I wouldn't care."

It hurt her to do this. It hurt her _so damn much _to be so cruel to him. But Lisanna was left with no choice. Of course, this wasn't her, but to him it currently was. Which is why she would put up with the act. She would pretend to be the person he thought she was, because after the 'injustice' he thought she did to him, Natsu would not want to see any sense. She would play the game for as long as she possibly could and hope, that someday, the pretty girl from the picture could set things right between them. But first, _she _would have to set _them _up.

Natsu scoffed, looking away. "Of course, you never have. You didn't care when you spoke to Erza, so why should you now?"

Her name brought back all the memories, and all the pain as well. Natsu thought back to when Lisanna spoke to Erza, the girl he loved, and made her change her mind. He thought back to when she rejected him, trying to be as nice as she could, but not appearing such. He even thought back to when he saw her happy with Jellal, her fiance, and he swore he could have made her even happier with him. The betrayal of his best friend, the rejection of his one true love; Natsu was trying so hard to bury all these feelings deep inside, but now they appeared at the surface. He could never live with such pain, and he was sure of it.

"You're right," Lisanna lied, "but that's not what I'm here to talk about right now."

"Well, what _are _you here to talk about?" he asked, disinterested.

"About a girl," she answered, and immediately his eyes shot open.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no; _no. _You are _not _doing this to me Lisanna," he spat, turning abruptly to face her. "You made Erza, the love of my life, change her mind about her feelings about me, and now you're here to 'set me up' with someone else? Ha, what a joke! I am _not _letting you do this."_  
_

"Why not?" she asked, seeming unaffected. But, beneath what even he couldn't see, she was hurting; bad. She never made Erza change her mind, she only asked her a few questions about what she really felt for Natsu. Erza, herself, admitted she had a lover from before and was thinking of rejecting Natsu. All Lisanna did was urge her to do so, since he would be hurt if she played him. However, that was a truth only she knew.

"You are not the one who gets to ask the questions," he said, shooting her a glare, but she put her facade up even stronger.

"Why don't you ask them, then?" she suggested.

"I know what I would find; a revelation of the cold, heartless bitch you really are," Natsu said, and she held back the tears.

_He doesn't mean it, _she convinced herself, and they both knew that was a truth. Natsu Dragneel was most certainly not like this. It was just that recently things took a very bad turn in his life, and he was blinded by his anger. When he got better, he would be able to act more stable, and the blonde girl named Lucy sounded like the person who could get him back on track.

"Natsu," she spoke in a calm tone. Not gentle, not generous; just calm. "Your father, Igneel – may he rest in peace – gave me a duty to follow. I respect him and his choices, and I know so do you. Why can't you simply honor his wishes and accept? He wanted you to be married, have a family, live peacefully; not sulk about the past. Just give it a chance, Natsu. This girl – her name is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia – was the top in the list of the marriage proposals he was looking forward to accept. Could you, even for a second, give it a try?"

At the mention of the word 'Heartfilia', Natsu's blood boiled. "_What?! _You've got to be kidding me right now, Lisanna. You want me to get married _to a fucking Heartfilia?!_"

She should have predicted this reaction, yet it still surprised her. "Even though your father had the most reason to hate the Heartfilias, he didn't. They didn't hate him either, Natsu. Which is why they sent this proposal, and also why your father wanted to accept. Then why are _you _the one who hates them?"_  
_

"You know why, and I don't want to explain this to you," Natsu said, shooting her daggers. "No matter what, I am not accepting this proposal."

"At least look at her picture."

"I don't give a damn!" the young man practically shouted, and Lisanna did her best not to make him see how scared she was.

"Once again, Natsu, I don't care," she said, acting bitchy. "We are going through with this proposal no matter what you say, which is why it is better if you accept the fact."

After saying those words, Lisanna simply stood up and left the room, ignoring his angry protests. She looked serious, but deep inside she knew she wouldn't do anything about it until Natsu gave his consent. She couldn't just decide the fate of his life because, no matter what, and no matter how many rights she had, it was, in the end, _his _life.

Natsu, on the other hand, started to doubt himself. Was this the girl he had been friends with for so long? How this kind, caring, and cheerful childhood friend on his turned into this cold, selfish creature, he would never understand. But, then again, he didn't want to either. Even though he knew little, Natsu still judged, and took this as the revelation of his friend's true ugly self. He couldn't– _wouldn't _live like this. Which is why, he decided he would leave it all. He would run away tomorrow morning; away from this place which became a hellhole, away from the people who became devils.

Coincidentally, at the same time, a certain blonde in the Heartfilia mansion made the same promise to herself.

These two were running from each other, but did not realize they would be running _to _each other. And, what they also did not realize was that when they finally reached each other, they would be feeling the emotion they were afraid to feel, and the one they were running away from all this time; love.


	2. chapter one

**A/N: P**lease excuse the grammar mistakes and/or spelling for the previous (and this) chapter, they were not proofread.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Fairy Tail is not owned by me.

* * *

_chapter one_

The blue haired woman sniffed. She rubbed her nose with her white handkerchief, as the young man beside tried to comfort her. She hated doing this to Lucy, her best friend. Levy McGarden never wanted to force things upon anyone, but for once she had to give in to the situation, and she hated it.

"I... I only want that's b-best for her," she said in between sobs. "I never thought wanting that would make me become so cruel to her."

"It's fine, Levy," Loke gently spoke, putting his hand over hers. "I understand."

"But she doesn't," Levy pointed out. "She thinks she lost me. I was always there for her, I always _understood _her. But now... she thinks I am no longer her friend."

"She will find out she was wrong quite soon," the man assured her. "I think this marriage will be a huge change for her, but only for the best."

"I think so too, and I trust the decisions of her late parents," Levy voiced out her thoughts. At the end of the day, it was only Lucy and Lucy's happiness that the young lady cared for, and she would never compromise at all for that. For once in her entire life, they fought, but it was only for Lucy's well-being.

"Exactly, which is wh–" the man stopped himself when he noticed the presence of another lady in the grand room. "Yes? What is it, Virgo?"

"Princess," Virgo addressed Lucy the way she did, her voice completely emotionless and blank, "is not in her room."

xxx

Lucy Heartfilia stared at the sight of the train in front of her, taking in a deep breath. She tightened her hold on her suitcase. After coming so far, she couldn't give up now. It had all been enough. What was this life of hers now? It certainly didn't seem like it was _her life; _with everyone else making decisions for her without her consent. What good would it do to endure it any longer? She could just run away and start a new life; a life which was _hers _and _hers alone._

Nodding her head, having the decision finally made, and shaking off any last thoughts, Lucy grabbed her suitcase and stomped forward. She walked on, stepping up in the train, and then paused. Looking back one last time at the train platform, Lucy stared at what she would be leaving behind.

_Goodbye, _she mentally said, as if wishing it would reach the people she cared about. Then again, those people weren't the same anymore, which is why she wished her farewell would go to their true selves. With a faint smile on her lips, Lucy turned away to head inside as the train slowly started to move.

xxx

Levy McGarden was frantically looking for her best friend. She ran and ran, checking every room in the mansion. She didn't give up, her eyes drifting from one place to another in an instant. She was panicking, but only one thought lay on her mind; Lucy.

Where was she? She couldn't possibly have gone somewhere without telling her. That was not the Lucy she knew. The Lucy she knew had to be here somewhere. But then again, midst all the changes in her life, the decisions made, the injustice served, maybe the Lucy she knew disappeared somewhere, and was not coming back now.

xxx

Natsu leaned against the window, looking outside as the train started to speed up. He stared at the platform before it disappeared. There it was, the place where he lived his whole life, finally gone. There was no turning back now; he could do nothing.

He put his hands in his pocket, searching for his phone till he found it. He opened it from the back, properly checking if his old SIM card was thrown out or not. Now that he finally left, he wouldn't want anyone tracking him in any way possible. He had enough of this life; one where he didn't get to choose anything. He wouldn't let others control him anymore. No, Natsu Dragneel was better than that. He was a person; a person with the freedom of their own choice, feelings, decisions. He wouldn't let _anyone _take that away from him, no matter who they were.

Putting his phone back in his pocket and leaning against the seat, he felt his eyelids drop. His eyes slowly closed, and there was only one thought surfacing above all; _Erza._ The pain and heartbreak he got stung, but at the same time, the joy and happiness he received eased his mind. He felt a mixture of emotions; anger, peace, sorrow, bliss. Natsu smiled to himself, guessing this was what it felt like to be in love after all.

A cough disturbed his thoughts. However, he paid no heed to it. After a while, it came again, louder, but he ignored it once more. When it came for the third time, even more louder, he opened his eyes and turned to the following direction in pure annoyance. It took him a while to recognize the sight in front of him of a girl. A girl; fair, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a slim figure, and big, brown eyes. He studied her for a while, till she grew a little impatient.

"This is my seat," she finally stated, which broke him out of his trance. Once he apprehended what she was saying, his eyes widened as he quickly moved to the other side. She took a while, watching him, then slowly settled down on her seat, putting away her suitcases. Lucy, right now, started studying him as well.

He looked pretty normal to begin with; with big, black eyes, a lean, muscular body, and a slightly tan skin tone. He had a strong jaw-line and slightly bent nose. What did stand out about him, however, was his spiky, salmon hair. Lucy thought it was an odd hair color, but then again, she wasn't one to complain; her best friend's hair color was bright blue.

"Hi," she said, as an attempt to start a conversation. He turned his head to look at her but didn't say anything. She couldn't exactly read his expression as his face was completely emotionless. After a few seconds passed with no word from either of them, he looked away. _Uh, rude, _Lucy mentally labelled.

"Um, hi," she repeated, merely out of boredom. This time he didn't even look at her, but she continued nevertheless. "Where are you going?" Pure silence from him. _Repeat. _"I'm going to–"

"You know," he cut her off, now staring at her straight. "I'm really not interested."

She looked annoyed as she spoke, "That's not a very nice thing to say."

"I wasn't trying to be nice," he replied.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. Here she was; being a kind person and trying to make conversation, whereas he was just being impolite. She would've understood if he didn't want to talk to her, but he didn't need to be so rude about it.

"Well, I take you're very unfriendly," she stated.

"Say what you want," he said. She couldn't exactly catch his tone. His face was still expressionless, and his tone was nothing special. It was just... normal. And she hated it.

"What's your name?" Lucy blurted out.

At her question, he raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well," she started, "I have to know what I should call you."

"You don't have to call me anything. I'm not looking forward to making friends, and I don't want to see you after this train ride," Natsu lied. Well, he wasn't technically lying. One part was true; he didn't want to see this nosy woman ever again after this train ride. But, of course, he did want to make friends. Natsu wanted a new life, a fresh start. However, he wouldn't want anyone from his hometown to know him. Not even the slightest possibility would do. Which is exactly why he would be careful and not get too friendly with people from this train; especially not this girl.

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine?" Lucy sarcastically retorted, and he shot her a glare. She seemed to ignore it, and continued, "there's this one thing you should know about me; I'm quite stubborn."

"And why should I know that?" he asked, clearly not interested.

"Because when I set my mind on something, I intend to achieve it. And my mind is set on being friends with you," she explained, satisfied with herself. "Now then, what do I call you?"

"You can call me a Dragon Slayer," he joked.

"Yeah, right," she laughed it out. "In that case, you can call me a Stellar Mage."

"I don't mind," he shrugged, but she quickly caught on.

"Does that mean you actually intend to call me something?"

Natsu froze. _Shit._

"And if you intend to call me something," she continued, grinning, "it means you intend to know me. And that means... you want to be my friend."

Natsu tried to come up with something. Damn, why was this girl just so persistent? Even though he found it incredibly annoying, he slowly started to like it a bit. She seemed like a fun person to hang out with, but he reminded herself how that would _never happen._

"Um," he cleared his throat, "I didn't mean that."

"Well then what did you mean?"

"What's it to you?" He narrowed his eyebrows, then after a while stopped. He leaned against his seat and turned his head, "Whatever. I've already told you; I'm don't want to make any friends, and I don't want to ever see you again."

Lucy, on the other hand, smirked. _That's a pity, _she thought to herself, _since I intend to do the exact opposite.__  
_

* * *

**Thank you for the support! Reviews:**

IceMakeNaLu (Guest): Thank you :) And don't worry, this is not turning into NaLi.

narutofan96sasuke: Thank you very much! Hope you like it :)


End file.
